Thoughts from 1010data’s Insight Summit

Last week, 1010data hosted more than 325 clients, partners, and staff at its third Insight Summit, an opportunity for all of us to step away from our day-to-day analytic practices and think about how data and advances in analytic technologies can elevate our work. This was the first time that I’ve attended the event as a member of 1010data’s staff – the last time I went to an Insight Summit, it was as a customer and keynote speaker. The Insight Summit was informative . . . and a lot of fun.

Thursday morning’s general session was a look ahead to 1010data’s future and how that future would might enable our users – business analysts, data scientists, developers, and IT professionals – to get the most out of their data. Central to this idea was creating a far more self-service analytic experience.

This resonates with me because I have long contended that “big data” is increasingly everyone’s problem . . . and opportunity; you should not have to be a data scientist to start gaining insight into massive volumes of data.

1010data’s approach to self-service will first be seen in a new interface that will be released at the end of June and the release of the latest version (version 10) of our platform. You will hear more about these innovations in the coming weeks. In a broader sense, though, making the platform easier to use is a key focus for the coming year: from integrating disparate data sets to operations and maintenance to advanced analytics to visualization and analytic apps, 1010data is committed to creating a seamless experience for all users, their customers, and the technologists who support them.

Worth mentioning: I still smile when I think of a colleague telling me that there were audible “oohs” and “aahs” when the new interface was demonstrated.

Beyond the general session, two things really made an impression on me:

1. The people who use 1010data are a passionate bunch. At the summit, I talked to analysts and managers of analysts representing a variety of companies and industries. In every case, I was struck by how passionate they were, both about the problems they were trying to solve as well as about how 1010data’s platform helped them assemble and explore the (big) data they needed to develop meaningful insights. A lot of technologies have users; to see passionate and excited users is far less common in my experience.

2. The speed at which 1010data’s analysts worked. On Wednesday even, while talking with two analysts from one of 1010data’s newer clients, I asked them what they would like to do with the platform. They sketched out an interesting use case that seemed well-suited to the platform. I mentioned the problem in passing to Afshin Goodarzi, our Chief Analyst. You can imagine my surprise when Afshin and two of his analysts (Will and Phil) pulled me aside the next morning to show me the rough prototype they built around the problem overnight. My surprise was mirrored by the customers, who immediately began asking about how they might build on and extend on the prototype. As a (recovering) analyst, I understood and was energized by their excitement.

On behalf of my colleagues at 1010data, I hope everyone has a fun and safe Memorial Day weekend.